Rugby Approaches Crossroads As Prem Entertainment Debate Takes Centre Stage

I look back at the last two weekends of Prem Rugby plus one round in Europe and across the URC and there are some big takeaways. In addition, structural moves wherever you look in an effort to  build for the future.

Firstly, there has been some stunning rugby whether picking Bordeaux v Gloucester or Toulouse v Exeter in Europe, or actually Gloucester against anyone right now in the Prem ( take a bow ,Chris Boyd)!  The questions being asked about our two top teams Northampton Saints and Bath sharing 130 points would not raise eyebrows in France if Toulouse was playing Pau for example. I  do not think as such this is a problem, and it is great viewing. Connacht piled on the points against Saracens to show that some more literal refereeing makes a lot of difference as well as to show the influence of a very capable English coach called Stuart Lancaster lest we forget and the likes of Jamie George acknowledged as much. Domestically have all our officials been made complicit in the need to commercialise the league?  Obviously not, even if they are encouraged to let the game flow. Then down came the rain and in came the storms, prompting a dearth of tries and one-up rugby which was dramatic but necessarily boring, punctuated by some occasional shadow boxing. Many former players laugh at the orchestrated non violence, most recently on show at Welford Road where it used to be very real, I know that .Puts bums on seats, ok? Oh, defence rules after all! Now let me come back to some World Rugby issues which relate to all this.

Putting the ball in straight is a non negotiable in my opinion, and completely ignored in this country, also elsewhere but not in France. It reduces the scrum to a farce. I read a piece by Wayne Smith, the leading attack coach along with Carwyn James of this or any generation, bemoaning the legalised obstruction of the rolling maul, I completely agree it is a fiasco and dominates the game, resulting in tries and yellow cards. Might as well lay down and play 'dead ants'. He forgot to mention that the same thing happens in the middle of the field which is called 'passing out of the back' now but in reality is blatant blocking. I can tell you what I would have done if that had happened back in the day - if today's defence coaches care to listen, then a fast drift defence needs to make a comeback asap. Or else the rugby public will yawn as yet more 'walk- in' tries become an unwelcome feature. Christian Wade ( congrats) has never had it so easy.

Meantime, commercial imperatives rule the day. More fans (and younger), consolidated TV coverage, competition restructuring and  so reduced travel costs, a look back to the days of Anglo Welsh rivalry( breaking news), US corporates being told that rugby is the only investable sport left. The Cornish Pirates US investor said there was 'value in ignorance', very true and by the way it is a smart move to invest in a region of the country cruelly ignored by the Twickenham tower of Ivory - Sir Dicky Evans the previous owner is a rugby hero.  It makes me smile to hear administrators claiming that they are controlling or even coordinating these tricky debates.

So here is the biggest problem. World Rugby leadership contains not a single club representative while it is the clubs and franchises in the UK,Ireland, France and South Africa  who are making all the decisions as well as providing the thought leadership. There needs to be a major governance restructure at World Rugby as fast as possible. There then needs to be an emergency 'Clubs Convention' which should be a constant feature and which will have real teeth as well as some Exec places on the World Rugby council. Anyone disagree?

Bill Beaumont in his outgoing speech as Chair of World Rugby (anyone know who his replacement is?) regretted not changing the substitutions ruling which has blighted the game and not just in the second half. I call it the 'Bonbon squad' not the Bomb squad, recognising that we used to chew sweets on the bench to keep juices flowing during the match. Well there was a lot more he should have regretted not doing.

In my one conference call over seven years with World Rugby (52 on the call) as Chair of EPCR, we made it quite clear as a European league of clubs  that the then proposal for a Nations tournament was never going to happen without genuine consultation with the clubs. That inherent arrogance is still there and must be removed. I know that these upcoming November Internationals are always welcome and  have a twist. But you ask some of the players how they have found this tournament and apart from the fact that it is not easily understood by supporters you will hear a very mixed response. I am not convinced and if you ask the likes of Fiji and Argentina, from a playing perspective it has been a disaster. Commercials rule, right? Not always, but who is there to debate this...

Lastly, I have two major announcements coming in the next week. Watch that space...

H